Moules in Aïoli

I’m certain there are plenty of small, cute beach shacks on France’s southeastern coast where you can get mussels and fries and drink rosé and pastis with your friends or your lover or alone. But my favorite small, cute beach shack is tucked directly into the seawall (?!) about 20 minutes south of Marseille’s city center, and they toss their mussels in aïoli. Do that here, and add fries.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS 

Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rebekah Pepperl

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 4 shallots, thinly sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• Fine sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• ¼ cup [60 ml] dry white wine or vermouth

• 4 pounds [1.8 kg] mussels (see Note)

• 1 cup [240 ml] aïoli, (see below), for serving

• Crusty bread, for serving 

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until the shallots are translucent, about 5 minutes.Season with salt and pepper and pour in the wine. Let simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Add the mussels to the pot and use a wooden spoon to stir them into the shallot mixture. Cover the pot and cook, stirring halfway through, until the mussels are opened and fully cooked, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Transfer the mussels to a serving bowl, reserving the broth. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids. Add the aïoli to a small bowl and gradually whisk in 3 tablespoons of the mussel broth. Spoon the sauce over the mussels, tossing to coat, and serve with crusty bread.

note to prepare the mussels | Place them in a colander or fine-mesh sieve and rinse with cold water. Scrub gently to remove any grit and use your hands to remove the “beard” (the thread-like piece attached to the side of the shells) by tugging firmly. If any mussels are open and don’t close when tapped, discard them. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. 

note | Should you like, this dish can be, and often is, also served chilled.

Aïoli, Petit to Monstre

Makes about 1 cup [240 ml] aïoli

Since meeting my partner, my aïoli consumption—already high, mind you—has dramatically increased. The main reason for this is that she makes the aïoli. Oil and eggs, magicked one golden drop at a time into glossy, garlicky, emulsified perfection in which to dip all manner of things, is a task best suited to those with excess patience and arm strength. Naturally, the best of our aïolis have happened in Provence, where aïoli is woven into life. Here, aïoli refers to both sauce and meal and spans in size from pétit to grande to monstre. 

A few tiny potatoes, boiled eggs, maybe some radishes, and crusty bread make a fine pétit aïoli for two. Adding poached salt cod, blanched green beans, small ripe tomatoes, small quartered heads of lettuce, and other seasonal vegetables makes it grande—often, ever-charmingly, served for a Provençal Friday lunch. All the above plus tiny snails, chick­ peas, shellfish, and any and all vegetables found at the market elevates it to monstre. Across the region, this monster of an aïoli may manifest as an entire village coming together to partake. Choose your size according to your needs, remembering that the centerpiece of any size aïoli is the aïoli itself—the very sun of the Provençal universe. 

• 2 large egg yolks

• ¼ cup [60 ml] grapeseed or canola oil

• ½ cup [120 ml] extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 small garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane

• Fine sea salt

Some (or all) of the following depending on the size and scale of your aïoli:

• Tiny boiled potatoes

• Hard- or soft-boiled eggs

• Radishes

• Blanched green beans

• Small ripe tomatoes, sliced or quartered

• Small heads of lettuce, quartered

• Other seasonal vegetables

• Cooked chickpeas

• Poached salt cod

• Steamed mussels

• Crusty bread 

To make the aïoli: In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Whisking constantly, add the grapeseed oil drop by drop until the mixture thickens. Continuing to whisk constantly, pour in the remainder of the grapeseed oil and the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the lemon juice in 1 teaspoon increments, whisking constantly. The aïoli mixture should be pale yellow and thick. Stir in the garlic, season with salt, and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve as many or as few of your chosen vegetables, seafood, and bread to make your aïoli petit, grand, or monstre. 

note | For ease, especially if you’re planning something on the larger aïoli spectrum, prepare everything in advance. Cut what needs to be cut, blanch what needs to be blanched, poach what needs to be poached, ask your partner or friend or relative to whisk as much aïoli as needs to be whisked, and keep it all in the refrigerator to be assembled the next day. 

note to relever l’aïoli | Should your aïoli break—it happens to us all—whisk another egg yolk with a tiny amount of lemon juice in a new bowl and start whisking in the broken aïoli, very slowly, starting drop by drop and increasing only as the emulsion feels sturdy.

Excerpted from Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur by Rebekah Peppler, © 2024. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs © Joanne Pai.

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